Give thanks all year

We've survived another Thanksgiving holiday! But the giving of thanks should not end there.

Someone not from the United States asked my husband last week if he knew why we celebrate Thanksgiving, and he had to think about it for a time. Finally, he answered, "Because the pilgrims and indians sat down to share some food and be thankful."

We laugh about that now, but it's just a very bottom line answer. The pilgrims were thankful for their religious freedoms (and dare I say, thankful for the friendly company of the indians). Perhaps the indians were thankful for their abundance and the friendly company of the newcomers. Whatever their reasons for instituting such a holiday, we have much to be thankful for today and every day throughout the year.

Are you healthy? Mobile? Breathing?
Do you have shelter from the cold?
Do you have food to fill your stomach?

What other blessings are you experiencing? I am continually thankful for my family who loves me in spite of many flaws. For healthy children and a loving husband. For vehicles that run and have working heaters. I'm thankful for the work we have and sun that shines. All these are gifts from a heavenly Father who loves me.

"Bless the LORD, O my soul;
         And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
         And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
         Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
         Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
         So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."
Psalm 103:1-5

May you know His many blessings today and feel His love every day.
Shelley

Shaping your prayers

Worry has a powerful impact on our lives, doesn't it? It invades our thoughts. It tends to shape our actions and interactions with others. Sometimes the shaping is beneficial, but worry often causes increased - and unnecessary - stress.

I'll admit it: I'm a worrier. From something as trivial as what I'm wearing to more weighty issues as how my Christian testimony affects others, I spend time and energy fretting. Is this shirt appropriate and does it look okay? Did I upset my friend with that comment I meant to be funny? Are my kids healthy and getting enough sunshine, exercise, variety of foods? Am I being a faithful witness, turning others to Christ or turning them away? On and on it goes.

Yes, I'm a worrier. But I'm not supposed to be. Worry takes the focus off God, and His power in my life is diminished when I worry. It says I don't trust God to be Himself - good, loving, kind, generous, to name only a few of His attributes.

I love how The Message translates Philippians 4: "Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."

Wonderful indeed. Praying in faith takes the worry from my life and shapes it into a petition, a praise of God's goodness. Praying in faith takes the power out of my hands, out of everyone's control, and puts it back on God where it belongs. It allows God to reveal Himself and His nature to me, which allows me to reveal it to others.

What are your worries, dear readers? How can you shape them into a petition or a praise? Spend time today simply asking God to fix that situation burdening your heart, then thank Him for doing it. Thank Him for His faithfulness. He loves you!

Praying many blessings on you today,
Shelley

Heavenly Father, please take these burdens from us. Help us to give them to you. Help us live according to your word, which says to praise you instead of worry. We thank you for your faithfulness to us, for your love and your power and your personal touch in our lives. As we pray, may we focus on you and on the sacrifice made for us. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Obstacles and Creative Solutions

"Your pipes are full of tree roots. It will cost $5,000 to repair them and see what other problems we're facing."

The nice man from our local plumbing company stands in my front yard on this gray afternoon and speaks as if money grows from those very trees invading my pipes. He doesn't even blink as the words fly past his lips.

But I blink. A lot. And I stare. Did he just say five thousand dollars?

My jaw drops and air rushes from my lungs. "It might as well be $500,000. We don't have that kind of money." And in the quiet of my stunned heart, I whisper. Please Jesus. Help us.


This world is full of obstacles. Just as we scale one hurdle, another looms in front of us. If it's not a financial hurdle, it's an emotional mountain to climb. Or walls of relational or physical or mental or spiritual barriers.

Here's my point, dear readers: There will always be something to upset our balance if we allow it. If we insist on seeing the world around us, we will be brought to the world's level. But if we choose instead to see the God who created this world, if we choose to see His power and love and creative solutions, we can leap over those hurdles and walls with room to spare.

Consider the power at work within you. Rise above your circumstances. Allow God to show you His power and love. Be open to His creative solution.

Blessings to you today,
Shelley

"For by You I can run against a troop. By my God I can leap over a wall." Psalm 18:29

Father God, thank you for your faithfulness and love. Thank you for your promises of deliverance. Show us the solutions to our difficulties and give us the courage to act. By your power, may we run against troops and leap over walls. In Jesus' mighty name we ask these things. Amen.

Be Still and Know

Good morning prayers.  So sorry for the lack of activity on the blog, this is an exciting week for us.  We are attending our first event with the prayer beads and of course have lots of last minute details to firm up. 

This morning I was prompted to blog on the phrase Be still and know that I am God.  What exactly does it mean to know that He is God?  Maybe it is that the character of God does not change in times of great challenge and great joy.  There are many characteristics of God that we are familiar with but God is revealed in all of scripture in many ways that don't readily come to mind.  Scripture teaches that God is All-Powerful, All Knowing, All Caring, Exalted in the Heavens but it also teaches He is our shepherd, our nurturer, our justice, our hope, our provider, creator, gate to eternal life, light in the darkness......shall I go on??  There are references to God that are high and lofty and remind us of his kingly status, then there are references that make Him personal and present, and available to our everyday lives.    Psalm 46 starts out with the exclamation God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble; therefore we will not fear.   Let's call on the God who wants to personally touch us with compassion for our daily lives and ask him to open our hearts and minds to accept His nature of love toward us. 

Psalm 46:10
 “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”

Father,
Draw us to a time of being still with you.  Bring peace to our hearts and open our minds to contemplate and rely on a characteristic of your nature that is new to our experience with you.  Thank you that we can know you more fully through scripture.  I pray that as we meditate on these thoughts today that you would reveal yourself to us in very specific ways to strengthen our hearts and our faith. 
In Jesus' name. 

Blessings,
Carol

Human Life, Intimacy and Awe

Psalm 139 is one of the most profound writings in scripture on God "knowing" those he created - which is each and everyone of us.  This psalm defies religious beliefs and cultural boundaries; it speaks to those who love Him and those who choose not to walk with Him. 
David acknowledged God's intimacy with him from before birth.  Long before David could choose God, God had chosen David.  What an incredible truth!  As you read through David's prayer notice that he is overwhelmed by the realization that God created and knew him even before the womb AND that God still knows him intimately.  As David sits in the presence of God, he voices his awe and deep devotion to the God of his life.  Please pray though the Psalm 139 below and as you pray consider how your view of yourself and others will be changed today.  
Blessings,
Carol

Lord,
I acknowledge that you knew each of us  before we were formed.  This is such an incredible thought that my mind can't fully comprehend it.  Father, help us understand the intimacy of life with you.  Help us to see ourselves and others with your eyes.  Draw us to you in ways we have not yet experienced.  

Psalm 139

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
    ²You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
         You understand my thought from afar.
    ³You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
         And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
    ⁴Even before there is a word on my tongue,
         Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
    ⁵You have enclosed me behind and before,
         And laid Your hand upon me.
    ⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
         It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
    ⁷Where can I go from Your Spirit?
         Or where can I flee from Your presence?
    ⁸If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
         If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
    ⁹If I take the wings of the dawn,
         If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
    ¹⁰Even there Your hand will lead me,
         And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
    ¹¹If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
         And the light around me will be night,"
    ¹²Even the darkness is not dark to You,
         And the night is as bright as the day
         Darkness and light are alike to You.
    ¹³For You formed my inward parts;
         You wove me in my mother's womb.
    ¹⁴I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
         Wonderful are Your works,
         And my soul knows it very well.
    ¹⁵My frame was not hidden from You,
         When I was made in secret,
         And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
    ¹⁶Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
         And in Your book were all written
         The days that were ordained for me,
         When as yet there was not one of them.
    ¹⁷How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
         How vast is the sum of them!
    ¹⁸If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand
         When I awake, I am still with You.
    ¹⁹O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
         Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
    ²⁰For they speak against You wickedly,
         And Your enemies take Your name in vain.
    ²¹Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?
         And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
    ²²I hate them with the utmost hatred;
         They have become my enemies.
    ²³Search me, O God, and know my heart;
         Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
    ²⁴And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
         And lead me in the everlasting way.